We use ‘can’ and ‘could’ to express different kinds of possibility. Match the meanings with the example sentences.
Elephants CAN BE very dangerous.
- impossibility: present
A hundred years ago, flu COULD BE very dangerous.
- a guess about the present
Your keys COULD BE in your other jacket
- a past event that was possible but didn’t happen
They’re 30 minutes late. They COULD HAVE GOT lost.
- a guess about the past
This bill CAN’T BE correct. It’s too much.
- impossibility: past
You CAN’T/COULDN’T HAVE SEEN me yesterday. I was at home all day.
- a fact about the past
They arrived over an hour late. They COULD HAVE PHONED us!
- a general fact